Lights out for Broadway's 'Spider-Man'

Nov. 19, 2013
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FILE - In this Dec. 22, 2010 file photo, posters for the Broadway musical "Spider-Man Turn: Off the Dark" hang outside theA spokesman for the show says an actor on the set of the Broadway musical was injured during a night performance, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2013. The performance was halted. The actor, who was taken to Bellevue Hospital with a serious leg injury, was not identified. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, File) ORG XMIT: NY112 / Charles Sykes AP

by Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY

by Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY

The most expensive Broadway musical in history is about to turn out its lights.

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark -- the (estimated) $75 million musical that made news long before it opened with backstage drama, delays, cast injuries and critical pans - will close in January, it was announced Monday night. (An exact date of Jan. 4 was provided Tuesday.)

But a new production of the show, which features a score by U2's Bono and the Edge and was co-created and originally directed by Julie Taymor, is planned for Las Vegas.

Spider-Man opened on June 14, 2011, after a record 182 preview performances. By then, Taymor had been driven out of the production, and creative consultant Philip William McKinley and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa were brought in to revise her vision and the book she co-wrote with Glen Berger.

The show nonetheless enjoyed very healthy ticket sales for a good chunk of its run, frequently reaping more than $1 million a week. But production costs were high, and grosses had been down recently.

Berger published a memoir of the show's growing pains, Song of Spider-Man: The Inside Journey of the Most Controversial Musical in Broadway History, earlier this month. And there had been news of another cast injury in August, when Daniel Curry's right foot got caught in a lift; it was fractured, along with both his legs.

In an official statement, spokesman Rick Miramontez confirmed that Spider-Man would end its "historic Broadway run," but noted, "We are excited to report that the next destination for Spider-Man will be the entertainment capital of the world: Las Vegas. Further details will be announced in the weeks to come."

On Tuesday. producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris elaborated slightly: "Our years on Broadway have afforded us the opportunity to build an internationally recognized brand, and Las Vegas, with its year-round stream of tourists seeking the world's best entertainment, is the natural home for this next incarnation. To prepare for the Las Vegas production, we have tasked the creative team to push the boundaries even further, taking the same story and making it sleeker, bolder, and more spectacular than ever."